1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to an optical fiber connector, and more particularly to an optical fiber connector used in consuming products or short distance telecommunication environment.
2. Description of Prior Art
With the development of telecommunication technology, a need of optical fiber connectors is increased. The optical fiber connector usually uses a metal or a ceramic pin for fixation of the fibers and the pin is assembled in a metal shield for mating of the fibers. However, Such kind of optical fiber connector has a relatively complex structure and requires accurate mechanical orientation. In addition, the optical fiber connector is only suitable to be assembled by hand, and thus, the manufacturing cost thereof is relatively too high.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,554,495 discloses an optical fiber connector mainly used for consuming electronic products such as video and audio electronic products or optical fibers transmission in short distance. The optical fiber connector has simple structure with plastic plug and socket. The optical fiber connector can be produced by insert molding technology and needs no plated layer, therefore, is very suitable for automatic product.
An optical fiber connector 70 mating with an optical fiber plug 60 is shown in FIG. 1. In order to show the assemble relations between elements of the optical fiber connector 70 clearly, the detail structures of some elements, such as an optical element 30, are simplified to show sketch drawings in FIG. 1, The optical fiber connector 70 comprises an insulated body 71, a housing 72, an elastic door 73, the optical element 30 assembled to a rear portion of the housing 72, and a spacer 40 retaining the optical element 30 in the housing 72. However, if the length of the optical fiber plug 60 is longer than that of a standard element, a head portion 63 of the optical fiber plug 60 may interfere with the optical element 30 and further push the spacer 40 outwardly from the housing 72. The optical element 30 may separate from the housing 72 together with the spacer 40, thus, the reliable engagement between the optical element 30 and the housing 72 can not be assured.
Hence, an improved optical fiber connector is required to overcome the disadvantages of the prior arts.